Dawn Longchamp
Dawn, is the main female charcter in The Cutler Series, by V.C. Andrews, she is the daughter of Laura Sue and William Cutler, as well as the mother of Christie and Jefferson Longchamp. Birth & Kidnapping , as a teenager.]]In the mid 1970's after Laura Sue's marriage to William Cutler's son Randolph, William raped Laura Sue which resulted in Dawn/ Eugenia, because William's wife Lillian Cutler felt threatened by Laura Sue as well as outraged by this affair, she arranged for the infant Dawn to be kidnapped by the Longchamp Family. Ormand Longchamp and his wife were working in Cutler's Cove at the time, when Lillian discovered Sally Jean had recently given birth to a stillborn daughter and already had a three year old son named James, so Lillian somehow convinced Ormand and Sally to take Laura Sue's unborn child once it was born. After Laura Sue gave birth to a girl, the baby was quickly taken away from Laura Sue without her getting to hold her baby girl (see Pg. 145 Twilight's Child); Lillian named her Eugenia Grace Cutler, after her dead sister Eugenia Booth. Less than a few days after Eugenia's birth, Lillian arranged for her house keeper and granddaughter's nurse to leave the room and come back looking scarce as soon as Oramand kidnapped baby Eugenia. The kidnapping was a success, and just before Sally and Ormand left Cutler's Cove, Lillian inadvertently gave Sally Laura Sue's pearl's a a keepsake for Eugenia. Sally and Ormand's escape was covered by Lillian, who threw the police off their trail. Was given the name Dawn Longchamp by Sally who said she named her after the Dawn sky right after she gave birth to her in the back of a pickup truck which would by the first of many lies (See Pg. 1, of Dawn). Dawn Late in the night, Dawn and her family are told by her father Ormand to pack up there things in the middle of the night because Ormand had found another job and place to live. The Longchamp's settle in Richmond, Virgina, and moved into an old dilapadated apparment buliding with pealing off wallpaper. less than a few mothers after the family move, Dawn's mother Sally Jean, gets pregnant and gives birth to a girl, Fern, whom Dawn is forced to care for due to her mother's ill condition. Ormand first works as a car engineer, and later gets a job as the school janitor at Emerson Peabody, which enables Dawn and Jimmy to attend Emerson Peabody. At Emerson Peabody Dawn makes a friend Louise Williams and a vicious rival Clara Sue Cutler. During the school year Clara Sue and her posy bully Dawn and her brother Jimmy, and the school principal Mrs. Turnbell is scornful to Dawn. Besides the cruelty at Emerson, Dawn finds hope when her teacher Mr. Moore is especially kind to her and picks her for the solo in the school concert; she also meets the handsome Philip Cutler, who falls in love with her at first sight. On Dawn's second day of school Clara Sue ambushes dawn in the hallway and calls her both a charity case and poor white trash, out of anger for Dawn getting picked for the solo over her. Clara Sue also tells Dawn that Philip only wants Dawn for sex and he makes girls like her mothers once a month, stunned and outraged, Dawn refuses to beleive Clara's cruel words. Later on Dawn goes for a ride with Philip, after he begs her simultaniously, alone on a deserted hill Philip tells Dawn that she's cute and very pritty, he then tries to have sex with her, unfortunately Dawn freaks out when he touches her nipple and pulls away. Dawn and Philip then talk about their childhoods and Dawn tells Philip a fake story about her visitng her grandfather on a farm, which she felt was making Philip regret his life. After talking, Philip drives Dawn home and asks if she has a number he can call her at, she tells him that her family doesn't have a phone, he laughs and tells her he'll see her the next day. At home that night Sally Jean and Ormand scold Dawn for going out with Philip alone without telling anyone and for seeing Philip in the first place. Jimmy justs sits on the couch reading a comic book and covering his face with it so Dawn is unable to see his face and him hers. Dawn's parents tell her not to see Philip nor take rides with him again, after Sally Jean caughs Dawn reluctantly agrees and goes off to help with dinner. Later in bed that night, Jimmy turns over on his side to Dawn and explains how he did not mean to get her in trouble, he didn't tell their father where she was going and the next thing he knew was that they were rushing home. Dawn beleives Jimmy and tries to go to sleep, while unable to remove Philip's face from her mind. As the days went on Philip grew more persistant of Dawn, while Clara Sue grew more vicious, and Dawn took piano leassons from Mr. Moore, which doubbled as the spring concert date drew closer. The day of the consort Dawn freezes up in her singing and has tells Mr. Moore that he was wrong to pick her for the solo. Mr. Moore disagrees and says he wouldn't have picked her if he thought she was no good, he also reminds her about her dream and that this singing in front of the school was one step closer to that dream of hers. After school, Philip meets Dawn and tells her the baseball practice ended early, Dawn tells him about the solo and about Clara Sue's anger, philip repies: :*''She had it last year. Besides she sounds like a foghorn,'' (Page 117). Dawn denies Clara Sue's singing voice as bad and behaves modestly, their talk leads them into a discussion about poker, in which Philip states how much he would like to play strip poker with her, Dawn gets nervous and tells him that she has to go meet her father and Jimmy. Philip asks Dawn to wait and asks her to ask her dad if he would be allowed to drive her to the concert since it is a special occassion and all, Dawn relucantly agrees. Dawn tells both Jimmy and her father on getting the solo, both of them congradulate her, but then as Dawn asks her father if Philip could take her to the concert, Ormand's smile suddenly vanishes to worry, he tells her we'll see. Sally Jean's Death When Jimmy, Dawn and Ormand arrive home they find that Sally Jean's condition has gotten worse by a feaver and she needs medical attention. Sally Jean screams out noo! and refuses to go, when Ormand dresses Sally Dawn is shocked by how much weight her mother has lost, afterwards Ormand drives Sally to the hospital where they are met by a security guard who tries to remember where he recognizes Ormand from, no one notices expect for Dawn and by that time the nurse arrives. Sally is admitted a placed into the intensive care unit, Ormand, Jimmy and Dawn are told by a male doctor with red har, that he they can only visit Sally for five minutes. Ormand and Jimmy go in first while the Dawn watches Fern, after they come out Ormand tells Dawn that her mother is asking for her. Dawn enters the ward to the far right end and sees Sally in a oxygen tent, barely able to breathe, Dawn is horrfied by the sigh of this. Dawn tells Sally that she can't sing, not when Sally is ill, Sally begs Dawn to sing and keep her promise afterward, Sally urges dawn to come closer and she grabs Dawn's hand. Holding Dawn's hand tight she says: Dawn asks why but Sally Jean doesn't respond and by that time the nurse comes in telling Dawn her time is up. Dawn and her family quickly rush home just in time to prepare for the concert, finally when Dawn is finished her father tells her she looks beautiful and gives her a string of pearl's of which her mother said were a family heirloom and insurence policy as long as she could remember. Ormand tells Dawn she must wear them as ordered by Sally Jean, Dawn reluctantly agrees as Ormand puts them on for the special occasion. Philip arrives, and there is an awkward tenseion between Philip and Ormand, just as they are about to leave Jimmy kisses Dawn on the cheek wishing her good luck. When Dawn arrives backstage, Linda complements Dawn on the pearl's that her mother Sally Jean gave her to wear; Clara Sue snaps back stating how her mother said that you can't tell real pearl from fake ones nowadays. Dawn tells Clara Sue that the pearls were a family heirloom and almost has it out with Clara Sue, Dawn is then told by Louise to ignore Clara and her posy. Dawn goes out on stage to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", and just as she sings the final note of the song, her mother Sally Jean colud have possible died. After the concert Dawn is congradualted by various rich parents as well as both Philip and her father Ormand, Dawn asks her father if she could go out for pizza, at first Ormand hestiates for unknown reasons and then allows her to go. In the car, Philip tries to make out with Dawn again and hopes to have sex with her. Just as Philip is about to persue Dawn his friends get in the way and Dawn tells Philip that it is late and needs to go home, frusterated Philip agrees and drives her home. Jus tarrives home, Dawn sees her father and Jimmy both rushing to the car, Dawn asks them what happened and Ormand tells her the hospital called, and that Sally isn't doing well, Dawn rushes in Ormand's car and Philip tells her he'll see her the next day. At the hospital Dawn and her family are met by that same security guard earlier, and he asks where they are going, still trying to recall where he had seen Ormand's face. The the same doctor from earlier that day, doctor came out and tells Ormand that Sally jean had passed away a little more than ten minutues ago, at first Ormand is in denial while Jimmy runs away from the hospital all the way home. Dawn and her father enter the morgue and find Sally Jean lying on a gurney looking at peace, they soon discover that right before she died she had a smile on her face, Ormand hints that she must have heard Dawn sing, before passing. Day later, Sally Jean was barried in Richmond cemetary, in which Dawn, Jimmy, Fern, Ormand, Philip, Louise, Mrs. Jackson and friends from Ormand's work all attened Sally Jean's funeral. Returned to the Cutler Family After Sally's funeral, Dawn hears a knock on their home's door. The visitor turns out to be a police officer, reporting a kidnapping. When Dawn inquires who was kidnapped, we learn it was Dawn's own kidnapping 16 years ago. She and her siblings are taken away separately, as she learns of her abduction by Ormand and Sally Longchamp, and the truth about her real family, which turns out to be the Cutlers - thus making her Philip and Clara Sue's sister. Secrets of the Morning ]]In Secrets of the Morning, after Dawn's summer vaccation from Emerson Peabody, Dawn is sent to live in a dorm, while she attends a fancy private music school Sarah Bernhardt School for Performing Arts Dawn starts out sittng on a plane that is landing into New York city, Dawn looks out her window and wonders what life she will have at this new school. Twilight's Child Midnight Whisper's Rivalries 'Lillian Booth' Speculations: on the cover of Secrets of the Morning]] The rivalry between Dawn and Lillian Cutler began long before Dawn was even born, it is never mentioned clearly why Lillian dispises Dawn, however readers can only speculate as to why. One possiblity could be, her bitterness towards life. Another reason being Dawn resembled her mother Laura Sue quite a lot and Lillian dispised Laura Sue from the start. Another possiblity is that Lillian feels that Dawn is the cause of all her misery and that if Dawn was never concieved, maybe Lillian could lie to herself and say that the affair between her husband William Cutler and Laura Sue had never happened. Last of all maybe Lillian feels threatened by Dawn, because Dawn could inherit everything including Cutler's Cove, being a direct heir to William Cutler, thus leaving Lillian's son Randolph inheritless. Nethertheless Dawn later did inherit everything and become the leader of the Cutler family after Randolph's untimely death and Lillian stroke. The final possiblity as weird as it could be, is that perphaps Lillian favored Dawn out of all the grand children and she saw potiential in Dawn to become the next leader of the Cutler family after her and Randolph. Maybe Lillian was cruel to Dawn and gave her away as a means to make Dawn more like her or she didn't want Dawn to grow up spoiled and rotten like Clara Sue or spare Dawn the unhappiness in the Cutler family. Whatever the reasons maybe for Lillian's cruely we shall never know, it is known is that when Dawn was born, Lillian named Dawn afer her dead sister Eugenia which should be reserved as an honor. Notable Quotes: 'Clara Sue Cutler' Relationships 'Philip Cutler' 'Michael Sutton' 'Jimmy Longchamp' Legacy & Death ''Trivia'' :* Just like Dawn, Rain Arnold from the Hudson series, also gets sent to a fancy private music school. Category:Characters Category:Dawn Longchamp Category:The Cutler Series Category:The Longchamp Family Category:The Cutler Family Category:Lillian Booth Category:Jimmy Longchamp Category:Christie Longchamp Category:Jefferson Longchamp Category:Michael Sutton Category:Philip Cutler Category:Emerson Peabody Category:The Cutler Series Category:V.C. Andrews Category:Andrew Neiderman Category:The Meadows Category:Cape Cod Category:Cutler's Cove Category:Sarah Bernhardt School for Performing Arts